Oropesa R S, Landale Nancy S, Hillemeier Marianne M
Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
Department of Health Policy and Administration, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
J Fam Issues. 2017 Apr;38(5):700-727. doi: 10.1177/0192513X16632264. Epub 2016 Mar 1.
Interest in the consequences of family legal status for children has grown in response to immigration-related changes in the ethnic composition of American society. However, few population-based empirical studies devote attention to family legal status due to data limitations. Using restricted data from the California Health Interview Survey (2009), the primary objectives of this research are to identify and evaluate strategies for measuring this important determinant of life chances among Mexican-origin children. The results indicate that measurement strategies matter. Estimates of the size of status-specific segments of this population and their risks of living in poverty are sensitive to how family legal status is operationalized. These findings provide the foundation for a discussion of how various "combinatorial" measurement strategies may rely on untenable assumptions that can be avoided with less reductionist approaches.
随着美国社会种族构成中与移民相关的变化，人们对家庭法律地位对儿童的影响的关注度日益提高。然而，由于数据限制，很少有基于人口的实证研究关注家庭法律地位。利用来自加利福尼亚健康访谈调查（2009年）的受限数据，本研究的主要目标是确定和评估测量墨西哥裔儿童这一重要的生活机会决定因素的策略。结果表明测量策略很重要。该人群中特定身份群体的规模估计及其生活在贫困中的风险对家庭法律地位的操作化方式很敏感。这些发现为讨论各种“组合式”测量策略如何可能依赖于一些站不住脚的假设奠定了基础，而这些假设可以通过不那么简化的方法来避免。
